Fort Peck Here We Come

We are spending Labor Day weekend at Hell Creek State Park on Fort Peck Lake with Lonn, LoraLee, Katie and her husband Michael.  No phone or internet service way out there so we will be back on Monday with lots of photos and news I hope!  Our housesitter declined to write the blog while we were away—imagine that!!  Have a great holiday weekend!!

Last night when we came home from the lobster dinner our trip was definitely in jeopardy—a huge fire blew up south of Livingston, MT—the Pine Creek fire.  This fire could threaten us and our neighbors.  This morning we woke to much cooler temps, much higher humidity and lots of smoke in the air.  We are proceeding with our plans.

These shots were taken from the West Boulder road last night—the smoke is obscuring the sun making an eerie glow.

A Sad Day

 

When we went for our walk this morning as we crested the hill Michael said, “that doesn’t look good.”  I expected to see smoke or fire as we have so many wildfires around us but when I looked up the hill, I could see my horse Mr. Red—he was dead.  He was fine yesterday, eating grass.

When I married Michael I had ridden a horse maybe twice in my entire life.  I rode a retired racehorse of Michael’s for a while until we had a major disagreement one day—he ran away with me!!  We then purchased Mr. Red.  I’ve never been a fan of horses (they scare me to death) but Mr. Red never gave me a moments’ fright.  I rode him on pack trips into the mountains—he was a great horse, easy to catch, easy disposition.   We stopped riding several years ago—life and jobs interfered I think and Mr. Red became kind of gimpy—so we didn’t ride him any more.  He was 21 years old—we will miss him!

We’ve spent this incredibly hot and dry day loading the motorhome—we are going camping with Lonn, LoraLee, Katie and Michael.  The folks in the path of Issac are getting deluged with rain—our humidity is 10%, the wind is blowing hard, there are fires all over the state—it is so dry we could almost spontaneously combust!!!

Tonight we are heading over to Terry and Boo’s for a huge treat—Terry grew up on the Chesapeake Bay and still owns property in that area—he had lobsters flown in and we are invited to dinner—how cool is that, lobster in Montana!!! 

It Was One Hot Day

We had to go to Billings today, mammogram for me (have you had yours’?????) and a post surgical checkup for Michael—good reports for both of us.  It was so dang hot in Billings you could have fried eggs on the asphalt—99 degrees on one bank thermometer!  Thank goodness our yellow jeep is air conditioned!

Dr. Stockdale’s cellphone rang while he was talking to us and he answered it—and boy did that conversation bring back memories.  The operating room was calling to tell Dr. Stockdale that his originally scheduled 11:30am surgery was now not going to start until 1pm!!!!  He had an office full of patients scheduled to start at 1pm—he was not a happy camper and the person on the other end of the line got an earful!!!  Many, many days in the operating room as supervisor I had to make those kind of calls and get my ear chewed off—surgeries ran late for a variety of reasons—the patient was late arriving at the hospital, short staff in the pre-op rooms, surgeons were often late thus delaying the next surgeon in line, equipment malfunctions and actual emergencies.  But whatever the reason no surgeon likes to be delayed and for sure he doesn’t like to tell his office patients he is running two hours behind. 

We enjoyed lunch at Jake’s and were heading to Costco when a miracle of sorts occurred—I had a hair appointment scheduled for Sept. 4—I called my hairdresser this morning and of course she had no openings today but said she would call me if she had a cancellation.  The phone rang as we were getting out of the car at Costco—could I be at the salon at 3:45—a miracle!!!   We managed to do Costco, Wal Mart AND Sam’s Club before the appointment.  Life is good!

Stopping at Nat’s to retrieve Emmi we had a nice visit with him.  Emmi loves Nat—she goes rushing into the house and straight into his lap when we drop her off.

As we were coming out of Billings Michael noticed a huge plume of smoke rising to the southwest—looked as if it was over near Absarokee.  Not a pretty sight for sure!!

Saw another bear on the way home down by the river—too far away to get a good photo.  It was a very good day for us!

Good To Be Home

I think I slept almost ten hours last night I was so exhausted!  Staying up late sewing, giggling, drinking wine—I may need several days to recover!

Michael noticed the bear in last nights’ blog photo had one of his front paws raised—I cropped the photo which brought out this detail:we absolutely love seeing the bears around here but at a distance please!!

OK—more on the quilt retreat!!  One of our quilting gang, Mary F. is a “quilt shop finding guru.”  She locates more out of the way, quaint quilt shops than anyone else I know—she travels with her job and does a lot of driving.  Mary and our new member Roxie claimed there was this awesome quilt shop in Avon, MT.  Well, I’ve been to Avon, MT and there is absolutely nothing there—really—some railroad tracks, a few houses, etc. 

The gang started making plans to go to Avon on Saturday, Jeane and I were on a quilting roll and waffled back and forth trying to decide if we wanted to go or not.  In the end we went and I would have kicked myself forever if I hadn’t gone—what a place—seems there is SOMETHING in Avon, MT—The Birdseye Mercantile!! 

Oh, my!!  I’ve never seen so much Moda fabric in one place in my entire quilting career—beautiful, new, touchable, huggable Moda fabrics!!  And get this—all fabrics in this store are $7.50/yard!!!!!  When most other quilt shops are selling fabric for $10-12 a yard it makes absolute sense to drive to Avon, MT!!!  Jeane asked the woman how she could sell her fabrics for $7.50—her answer, “we own this building, I am my only employee and I don’t take credit cards.”  She also explained, “we ranch near here, I am only open Friday, Saturday and Sunday—this shop is my stress reliever.” 

Thank you, thank you Mary F. for introducing us to the Birdseye Mercantile!!!

It’s been a busy day here—laundry, grass mowing and customer quilting.  We are taking the longarm south with us this winter and Michael has been hard at work making our trailer longarm ready.  He ran electrical wiring so now instead of propping the door open and running an extension cord inside for power we will have outlets.  He installed a large fluorescent light fixture overhead and is busy placing installation in the ceiling and on the walls.  Pretty fancy quilting trailer!!

Ms. Emmi was rather aromatic and received a bath today, too.  So, finally I’m sitting down to relax after one busy day!

Deer Lodge, Montana Quilt Retreat

Eight very happy quilters headed back to our various homes today after one awesome quilting weekend!  Our friend Mary P. won this quilt retreat for 12 people in Deer Lodge, MT at the spring quilt shop hop—she hit the lottery, let me tell you!  The Mountain View Retreat was built by a quilter and quilt shop owner who knows what quilters want and like!  And the icing on the cake—she also owns the local quilt shop—one of the best quilt shops I’ve ever been to!!

Jeane and I were the first to arrive and just walked around in awe—large quilting room complete with sewing tables, individual lights, comfortable chairs, cutting tables, and ironing tables.  The sleeping accommodations were perfectly arranged (we didn’t sleep much) and there was a great kitchen and dining area.  Unlike our previous retreats where food is catered for us we provided our own meals for this retreat with two people taking charge for each meal.  It worked wonderfully!  I just can’t say enough good things about the Mountain View Retreat.  And obviously a lot of other quilters think the same thing—if you go to the website you will see that open dates for retreats are few and far between.

It was a good retreat—I got lots accomplished—Halloween projects, Christmas projects, a couple small quilts made, placemats partially completed.  Everyone attending did some major quilting!  We added a new member—Mary F.’s sister-in-law, Roxie was a delight.  Here are some project and people photos:

Quilter’s Corner in Deer Lodge, MT housed in a former 100 year old bank building. 

Inside the quilt shop

Busy ladies

I can’t for the life of me remember who is in the process of making this stunning lonestar quilt.

The old, historical prison in Deer Lodge—the regular Montana prison is also in Deer Lodge but none of us had to stay there!

Above—another inside shot of the store and one of Jeane’s little winter scene blocks.

Barb and her diet PepsiThat must be a hard pattern Mary P.???

Jeane, Mary F. and I made these adorable jack o lanterns.

Roxie with her Mondo bag and Donna with her little table top quilt.

We had such a good, good time—exhausting but good—thank you Mary P. for sharing your “win” with us!!  More tomorrow on another fabulous quilt shop find!

Michael and Emmi picked me up in town this afternoon and we headed up the Boulder.  Just before reaching home I spotted this guy on the other side of the river:

Education

Several weeks ago I noticed an ad in the local newspaper for a free seminar—Connecting Your Business To The World—and signed both Michael and me up.  The workshop was sponsored by the MSU Extension offices and Triangle Telephone.  We both gained a lot of useful information—web hosting, website security, website building—I’m interested in starting a website for my quilting business. 

The young woman talking about the social networking aspects of websites asked if anyone in the room had a blog—when I raised my hand, talk about getting put on the spot as no other attendee had a blog!!  All the participants in the seminar were furnished laptops, she asked me for my blog address and the next thing I know TinTeePee/Log Cabin is up on the big screen for all to see—and boy did I write a boring blog last night!!  It was fun to answer all the questions about blogging—Michael and I thoroughly enjoyed the seminar and were glad we attended—lunch was provided, too and boy was it good!

On the way home coming up the driveway Mr. Bear was eating chokecherries again—I got a “sorta” photo of him:

Hiding in the bushes!

Tomorrow morning bright and early Jeane and I are headed to Deer Lodge, MT for a quilt retreat returning on Sunday—I’m gonna take a blogging break—I usually take my computer and blog while at quilt retreats but this time I’m taking only the camera—see you Sunday night.  Michael and Emmi are staying home and holding down the fort. 

On Down The Road

Mike and Pat were pulling out of the driveway around 6:30am this morning headed for home.  The phone rang just a little while ago and they had made it home to Custer—a long day of driving.

This guy was watching us as we took off on our walk this morning--A red tailed hawk, Judy??

I spent much of the day cooking and getting things ready for my quilt retreat.  Michael took my new to me sewing machine apart, cleaning and oiling it. 

And that’s about it for our day here in Montana—not very exciting.

The garden is growing right along, Michael dug these potatoes and onion this afternoon.  I have lots of almost ripe tomatoes.  The bell pepper and jalapenos have really taken off. 

Another Good Day With Friends

Michael took off early this morning heading over the West Boulder to dig holes for our friends Boo and Terry—something about installing a water tank.  Mike, Pat, Emmi and I took a walk—didn’t see any more bears.

Pat and I spent much of the day making a table runner for her.  She picked fabric, cut out the pattern and got most of it sewn together with a little instruction from me.  I ironed and longarm quilted a little while Pat was working. 

When Michael got home a little before 4pm, we loaded guns and ammo into the truck and went over to one of our gulches for a little target practice.  We shot some of Mike and Pat’s guns along with our own.  It was noisy fun!  And I’m thinking the bad guys better watch out for Ms. Pat!!!

And yes, Judy, when we are out walking amongst the bears with cubs, lone bears, rattlesnakes, wolves, etc. we do pack a gun.  We are not hunters and hate to see any animal harmed but we also don’t want to be lunch, either! 

I have tomatoes—lots of tomatoes!!!  While the tomatoes are mostly gone from Arkansas gardens, I’m just starting to get ripe ones--

Pat treated us to buffalo burgers for supper with corn on the cob and salad.  We chatted for a while then they headed off to their home in the driveway.  Our friends are heading toward home tomorrow, we will miss them!

It was another hot and smoky day in the Boulder valley:

A Special Day

Mike and Pat joined us on our walk this chilly morning—Pat was wearing a jacket!  After our walk we headed out for the local tourist attraction, Natural Bridge, taking the usual photos!

We arrived back home about 11am—Nat was coming for lunch so Pat and I got busy!  Pork tenderloin, roasted vegetables such as squash and carrots both from my garden, roasted green beans and a salad from the garden.  Homemade ice cream and fresh peaches for dessert.  Another fabulous meal!  Mike and Pat enjoyed meeting Nat.

Pat and I managed to sneak down to the quilt studio with Pat doing a little shopping and we also played with the longarm.  Mike and Mike sat upstairs solving the problems of the world.

About 4pm I suggested taking a “looking for bears” drive.  We bundled lawn chairs and happy hour makings into the truck along with Emmi and off we went up Lewis Gulch.  No bears but beautiful scenery.  As Pat said, “we have lots of happy hours but not many like that, beautiful scenery and great company.”  We agreed totally!

  One happy little stick chasing dog.

OK, so we drive twenty miles round trip on a bumpy, bumpy road looking for bears and what happens—we hit the mother lode when we get home!!!  Mike suggests we continue our drive on up into the hay pasture and look over into the gulches where the chokecherry bushes grow—we might get lucky and see a bear.  Nope, no bears in the gulch.  As we are leaving Michael decides to drive out across the hayfield with the intent of getting close enough to the gulch in which the house is located—maybe we will see a bear.  Michael spots them first on the horizon coming out of the neighbor’s hayfield.  Not one, but THREE!!!  The distance to the bears was greater than the zoom on my camera and it was getting dark.

We snuck across the field and got just a touch closer before they all disappeared into the trees.  Pat came here wanting to see bears and we treat our guests right—she got to see three bears!

It was just the best of days—thanks Mike and Pat for sharing it with us!

More RVing Friends

A cool 41 degrees this morning when we were drinking coffee and reading blogs.  Made for a nice walk, too.

Michael was extremely industrious today cutting and splitting a load of firewood—must have been the cool morning making him think winter is coming!

I spent the morning doing a little cooking and getting my sewing projects ready for the upcoming quilt retreat.  Several projects are cut out and ready to go, packed in a box.  I am so looking forward to this retreat as I missed the spring one in Red Lodge. 

Mike and Pat called from Big Timber to say they were on their way “up the Boulder” just before 4pm.  As Michael and I were heading down the driveway to meet them out at the highway a huge bear crossed the driveway in front of the car—and we had the top down! 

Mike is a confident driver and just drove that big motorhome up our driveway with ease—we got them all parked and plugged in before gathering in the house to have adult beverages and both Mikes’ favorite snack—popcorn.  Lonn, LoraLee and Katie arrived shortly thereafter and we had a great evening—visiting and telling stories. 

Dinner was ribs, corn on the cob, melon with another fruit tart and ice cream for dessert.  Oh, my, did we ever eat well.  More visiting, show and tell of the quilt studio and more visiting before we all called it an evening. 

A great day in Montana with some more of those RVing friends!

We Meet The Nicest People

Many times people who live in cities or subdivisions never become friends with their neighbors, they may have a passing acquaintance but don’t really get to know those people who live right next door, two doors down or across the street.  An elderly couple in our community traveled to Arizona yearly in a RV and Michael asked Norm one time, “why did you never buy a house in Arizona?”  Norm’s answer, “when you buy a house, making friends in a new neighborhood is hard, when you roll into a RV park everyone is your friend.”

We and many others in blogland have proved this time and time again.  We have made some of the most lasting, close friendships staying in RV parks.  Today some of those friends came to visit.

We met Matt, Gail and Freeway at Cedar Key RV Resort last winter while we were in Florida.  They were our neighbors on one side traveling in a toy hauler pulled by a Ford diesel.  Freeway and Emmi had a tentative relationship most of the time.  Matt and Gail have been traveling north west since leaving Florida in late March.  They’ve been in Gardiner, MT at the north entrance to Yellowstone Park for a little over a week.  Today they came to visit us bringing Freeway along. 

A great day!!  When they arrived about noon, we visited for a little while then drove over to our tourist attraction, Natural Bridge State Park.  What a difference from last year’s water levels!  All the water is now dropping down through the huge hole in the rocks.

Look at the amazing difference in these two photos.  The upper one was taken today, all the water coming through the hole.  The other photo of Gina and me was taken in June of 2011—lots more water to say the least!!!

After our little tour we came home to appetizers and Pink Cadillac Margaritas (delicious new margarita recipe!!) on the deck.  Pork tenderloin, corn on the cob, oven roasted green beans and melon for lunch.  We ended our wonderful meal with a fruit tart and homemade ice cream.  Delicious meal! We spent lots more time visiting before saying our goodbyes with admonitions about all the deer hanging out along the roads. 

Tomorrow more RVing friends arrive, Mike and Pat—they’ve been on a Glacier National Park tour. 

Off To Billings

That’s what happened this morning after our walk, we were off to Billings.  Emmi got to spend the day with Nat—a good thing for both of them!

In the days before marrying Michael almost 18 years ago I had dressy clothes galore—I went to church, I socialized, I dressed for business, I had lots of dressy stuff.  While married to Michael I have worked as a medical consultant, traveling several times a month—had lots of business clothes.  When we socialize here in Montana the dressiest I get is a nice blouse with jeans.  When I go to church out here in Montana, pants and even jeans suffice.  Well, I guess I’ve lived in the boonies too long and also put on a few pounds—got rid of all my dressy clothes and the ones I do have left don’t fit so great any more.  In September I have a wedding to attend in Kansas City—Coldwater Creek was having a great sale and I’m all decked out now!  So glad I didn’t get rid of my dressy shoes—at least I saved Michael some money there!!!!!!

Lunch was a quick bite grabbed at Costco—my shopping for clothes took a little longer than expected—and we were off to the Yellowstone Vein Clinic.  Yep, the doctor confirmed exactly what I all ready knew—I have a varicose vein! If all things work according to plan I’m scheduled to have that sucker fixed!

More stops at Home Depot, Costco and Wal Mart before we pointed that full to the brim jeep toward home.

On our last trip to Wal Mart a couple weeks ago, I purchased for Emmi two new squeaky ducks.  Well, those made in China ducks fell apart the very first time she played with them—the “hair” fell off all over my house.  Back those things went today and Ellie and Dortha, you will be glad to know Emmi still has a regular duck but she also has this new one too.  And it’s ugly!